At their December meeting, the State Land Board decided to “direct Director Walker and staff at DSL to commence work with OSU and other agency partners on developing a plan to transform the Elliott into a research forest …”
Despite widespread media coverage to the contrary, nothing was said in the Land Board’s actual decision about selling the forest, and not only OSU but “other agency partners” were to be included in developing the plan to make the Elliott a research forest.
The Eugene Weekly’s excellent Elliott article (“Not Out of the Woods,” Jan. 24) raises doubts about the wisdom of handing over the Elliott to OSU. OSU’s administration has supported little if any on-the-ground research on forest carbon. Although a few OSU scientists are world leaders in conceptual forest-carbon research, their work was not even mentioned in OSU’s testimony to the Land Board.
The Global Warming Commission and the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, in contrast, have laid out very specific research needed to understand the forest carbon cycle. DSL should partner with these agencies in their planning for the Elliott.
By undertaking development of an Elliott Habitat Conservation Plan before conducting a thorough carbon analysis, DSL has started down a path that will make it impossible to take fullest advantage of the staggering carbon density of the Elliott’s unique ecosystem.
It’s the Global Warming Commission and the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute who understand forest carbon research needs, and these two agencies should be partnering in development of the Elliott’s Habitat Conservation Plan.
Lon Otterby, Marcola
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
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